Question:
When iqamah is given for the obligatory prayer and the rows are being straightened, if I am standing in a row and the person behind me is praying sunnah prayer and prostrates, and his head touches my foot, does this count as me passing in front of him? Also, abroad, people often leave gaps in the rows. If the imam finishes a rak’ah and the person behind completes his prayer, then the gap is filled. Is this permissible?
Answer:
To clarify his question: The ‘iqamah’ has been called, and people are lining up. Let’s say a person in the third row is praying sunnah. While he is praying, the second row is being filled. Since the first and second rows are being filled, the spot directly in front of him is left empty. People wait until he finishes and then fill that spot. Is this correct? There are two aspects here: what should the person praying sunnah do, and how should the congregation act?
When the iqamah is called, the person praying sunnah must stop. It is not permissible to pray any voluntary prayer after the iqamah has been called for the obligatory prayer. The Prophetﷺ said: “When the iqamah is called, there is no prayer except the obligatory one.” If he was praying sunnah, he should stop and complete it after the congregational prayer. If it was an obligatory prayer he missed, he can pray later. He should not continue praying alone after the iqamah.
If he had followed this ruling, your question would not arise. He would have joined the congregation.
Now, if he does not know this ruling and continues praying, then what should the congregation do? People hesitate because they fear crossing in front of someone praying. However, the area that belongs to a person praying is only the place where he places his forehead during prostration. A person is not the owner of the entire space up to 20 feet. If someone walks in front of a person praying but not directly between him and his place of prostration, it does not count as crossing.
If a person is praying and someone passes in front of him within the space where he prostrates, that is considered passing. But if the space is beyond that, it is not considered passing. In many mosques, people walk past someone praying in the last row. If they do not pass directly in front of his prostration spot, it is not considered crossing.
Thus, even if someone is praying sunnah behind, you do not need to leave the spot directly in front of him empty. You can go ahead and stand there, provided you are not crossing his prostration spot.
However, there is another issue. If the person praying sunnah is standing in such a way that his prostration extends into the row ahead, then standing in front of him might affect his prayer. In that case, the correct approach is for him to move back a little so that his prostration is within his own row. If he is already in prostration, he can be gently pulled back to straighten the rows.
The command to straighten rows and stand close together is emphasized in hadith. Leaving gaps goes against this command. If you leave a gap for someone praying sunnah, you are not standing close together. So, this is not correct.
Therefore, the answer to your question is: you do not need to leave the spot empty. You may stand there without it being considered passing in front of someone praying.